Strathaven woman Sally Hall has urged women to try out for the Scotland Masters team, after enjoying a summer of international hockey at home and abroad.

Sally (43) was selected to play for the Scotland Over-40s side and competed in the Home Nations in Swansea, before taking part in the Exin Masters World Cup in Terrassa, near Barcelona in Spain.

The competition, which is believed to be the biggest hockey tournament ever staged, saw 25 nations and more than 2400 players aged 35-60 compete.

That was also a boost for East Kilbride Hockey Club, where Sally plays.

Club vice-president Alison Alexander said: “It is fantastic that we have had players involved in such a high-level competition.”

Defender Sally was impressed, and enjoyed taking part.

She said: “It was a real inspiration seeing these players, and others in the older age groups, playing with such passion and commitment.

“I never thought at this age that I would be pulling on a Scotland strip, but it was an honour to represent my country, and I loved lining up against some of the best hockey nations in the world.”

Scotland's over-40s hockey team. East Kilbride player Sally Hall is pictured, front row second from left

To make the team, Sally had to commit to a fitness programme, attend extensive training sessions and be part of an 18-strong squad assembled from all over Scotland.

After the Home Nations in Wales, Sally travelled to Spain for the World Cup, in which Scotland were drawn in the ‘group of death’ against Germany, Ireland and Netherlands.

Sally was met with a demanding schedule in Terrassa, and with some matches being played in 40-degree heat.

Despite a good performance against Germany, Scotland lost their first match 3-0, and a strong Irish side racked up an identical score.

A facial injury saw Sally bow out of a 5-1 defeat against the Dutch, and she sat it out as Scotland beat Belarus 8-0 in their final grouping.

She returned as a midfield substitute against Wales in the Olympic stadium, and Sally said: “That was the target game for us and we executed our game-plan brilliantly, beating them 2-0 in what was our best performance.”

Scotland concluded the tournament with a 1-1 draw against France, meaning they topped their second group, finishing in 13th out of 16 in the over-40s section.

Sally said: “For me, one of the best aspects was being coached by some of the best.

“Meeting and being part of a team with players from all over Scotland has been really great. I have enjoyed meeting everyone and that goes for opposition teams, too.”

Anybody who is interested in following in Sally’s footsteps need to be in their 39th year, reasonably fit and willing to go on “an adventure”.

For trial dates of the Masters programme visit scottish-hockey.org.uk/participation/play/masters-hockey/